Jayavarman II, posthumous name Paramesvara (literally, Supreme Lord) (born c. 770—died 850, Hariharalaya, Cambodia) founder of the Khmer, or Cambodian, empire and outstanding member of the series of rulers of the Angkor period (802–1431). Among Jayavarman II’s accomplishments were the deification of the Cambodian monarchy, the establishment of the devarāja cult as the official state religion, and the reunification of the old kingdom of Chenla, which he expanded and formed into the Khmer empire.

Possibly of Khmer descent, Jayavarman II came from Java, where he had been in captivity or exile, to succeed to the throne as Java’s vassal around 800. An unwilling puppet, he defied the Javanese and asserted Khmer independence in 802, when he also was installed under Hindu rites as devarāja, or god-king. He established a series of capitals, first at Indrapura, on the lower Mekong River east of Kâmpóng (Kompong) Cham; then, moving northwards, at Hariharalaya, southeast of present-day Siĕmréab (Siem Reap); and then at Mahendraparvata, in the region just north of the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), not far from Angkor, the next seat of the Khmer empire, which remained its capital for 600 years.

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in ancient Cambodia, the cult of the “god-king” established early in the 9th century ad by Jayavarman II, founder of the Khmer empire of Angkor. For centuries, the cult provided the religious basis of the royal authority of the Khmer kings.

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...of Funan. It seems that the Indonesians gave some assistance in establishing a new kingdom in the northern part of what had been the territory of Funan. In 802 a Khmer king, who took the title of Jayavarman II, established his capital near Phnom Kulen, about 20 miles (30 km) from Angkor. It was a rather unsuitable place for an administrative capital, but it was a mountain, and the peoples of...

Accidents of history often carried the performing arts across national boundaries. It is believed King Jayavarman II took dancers and musicians from Java when he left there in 802 to establish the Khmer dynasty in Cambodia, and shadow puppeteers may have accompanied him as well. Another theory suggests that Cambodia received the shadow play from India by way of Malaysia, through conquest by a...